Tera Nova has a very insightful article up on the nature of "losing" in MMOs. The question they pose is an intriguing one: why, in an essentially PvP game like Eve Online, do losers keep coming back? Why do people who are perpetually victims of "leet players" keep playing? Why don't they simply quit the game in frustration?
If you kick someone's ass by having 12 friends attack him with you, does it count as a win?
The answer the author comes to is a complicated one, but essentially he points out that winning can be defined in many ways. Although individual losses in PvP must be endured, overall progress, and therefore enjoyment of the game, is possible.
We at WanderingGoblin have a different theory: the losers keep coming back because, if they left, the leet players of Eve Online would have no one to bully, beat up, or push around. Without a steady stream of fodder, the leets would become unhappy. And if that happened, they'd leave Eve Online and they'd all roll warlocks in World of Warcraft, and there's too damn many of them now anyway. Thus, we all need those who are losing to keep playing Eve, and our thanks goes out to them! 
